Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible
The Bible and marriage
Dear Father Paul: Where exactly in the Bible is the definition of marriage? — Don
Dear Don: Excellent question with all that has been going on in the culture and the courts concerning marriage over the past few years.
If you are looking for passages in the Bible about approved wording for wedding ceremonies, or a list of wedding vows … or information on wedding gowns, tuxedos, cakes, or flowers, none of these are in the Bible. However, the Bible does tell us a great deal about who can get married in the eyes of God and why and how God ordained marriage as his approved pattern of life for his human creation.
From the dawn of time, on every continent, in every culture and in every “Holy Book” that covers the subject, marriage has been simply and clearly defined.
All that changed on June 26, 2015, when five members of the nine-member, non-elected U. S. Supreme Court took upon themselves the “redefinition” of the first principle in God’s definition of marriage: who is eligible to get married. But is it the right of the culture and government to “redefine” something as basic as marriage, or has marriage already and forever been defined by a higher power?
To me, God’s Word, the Holy Bible, must and does take precedence over the cultural whims of man, and while again, the Bible says little about wedding ceremonies, cake, flowers and the like, the Bible is crystal clear on what marriage is about and who it is for — a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman.
In the first three chapters of Genesis in the Holy Bible is the creation story. God creates the earth, the animals, birds, fish and then, his highest creation — man. He names the man Adam. God soon sees that Adam is in need of a companion like himself and that none of the animals are adequate. He then creates a woman and names her Eve. In Genesis 2:25 God calls Eve (New Living Translation) “his (Adam’s) wife.” The Hebrew word translated here into the English word “wife,” is gender specific. It can only mean woman.
In Genesis 1:28, God tells Adam and his wife to, (New Living Translation) “be fruitful and multiply, (have children through sexual intimacy). Fill the earth and govern it.” It is simple and clear that two “married persons” of the same gender could not possibly have ever fulfilled this very first simple commandment that God gave to his new creation. Think about it. If Adam and Eve had instead been “Adam and Steve,” the human race would not have advanced even to a second generation, and you and I wouldn’t be here!
That marriage was to be “lifelong” is the second part of God’s definition of the first marriage between a man and a woman in the garden of Eden. This principle is set forth in Genesis 2:24 (New International Version) “… a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh (inseparable, as one).” A lifelong union.
Jesus Christ demonstrated his approval of marriage as defined above by his personal attendance at a marriage ceremony in the village of Cana in Galilee as recorded in the Gospel of John 2:1-11. At the wedding festivities, the wedding party ran out of wine and John records that Jesus miraculously turned water into wine thus putting God’s stamp of approval on marriage.
Lastly, in the New Testament there are numerous passages written by the apostle Paul that give Christian believers very specific instructions on how to have a successful marriage. Ephesians, chapter 5 is replete with Godly advice on marriage. The chapter closes thusly, (New Living Translation) “As the Scriptures say, ‘a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” This last sentence is, in my view, the “secret” of a happy marriage, and I should know. Judy and I have been married for 51 years.
Do you have a question? Email your question to me at paulmassey@earthlink.net and I will try to answer your question in the paper.
Father Paul Massey is pastor emeritus of Church of the Holy Cross in Fayetteville, Georgia. Church of the Holy Cross is a church that is Sacramental/Liturgical, Evangelical, and Charismatic … and a church where Jesus Is Lord! Our web-site www.holycrosschurch.wordpress.com has information, service times and directions.
